Due to the popularity of outdoor activities such as hunting and camping, numerous devices for cooking or grilling food over an open fire have been developed. One style of portable outdoor grill assembly which has become quite popular in recent years employs a pivoting arm which is pivotally mounted to the upper end of an upright post which is driven into the ground at its lower end. The grill for this assembly is typically attached to one end of the pivoting arm by either a chain-like member or a rigid member and the grill is conveniently raised and lowered over the campfire to control cooking as desired by simply pivoting the pivoting arm about its point of attachment to the upper end of the post.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,094,296 to Beagley discloses a portable grill of the aforementioned general type which includes a stake member having a first end formed into a point for driving into the ground and a second end formed with a flange extending substantially normal to the longitudinal axis of the stake member. The device further includes an adjustment member which is rotatably adapted to the stake member by an adapting means. The adjustment member is comprised of a first plate having a plurality of apertures formed in it in accordance with a preselected pattern to coact with a pin sized to fit through the apertures. An elongated arm member is pivotally secured to the plate and has a handle on one end and a first hook adapted to its other end. A chain having links is sized to coact with the first hook and hang therefrom. A second hook is adapted to the lower end of the chain from which cooking utensils such as a barbecue grill may be suspended.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,844,139; 2,912,973; 3,067,734 and 3,152,536 to D. D. Lucas also disclose portable barbecue grills which utilize a pivoting arm pivotally attached to an upright post for adjusting the height of a barbecue grill over a fire. Each of the barbecue grills is suspended from an end of the pivoting arm by a relatively rigid suspension member which is pivotally attached to an end of the pivoting arm. Each of these barbecue grills also utilizes a second pivoting arm in parallel relationship to the first pivoting arm for maintaining the grill in a horizontal position as the grill is moved vertically to and from the fire.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,940,439 to Bartles et al and U.S. Pat. No. 4,553,525 to Rubel disclose portable grills wherein the grill is attached to an end of an arm which is slidably attached to an upright post. The grill's vertical height above the campfire is adjusted by sliding the slidably attached arm up and down the upright post.
While all of the above grill assemblies disclosed in the aforementioned patents undoubtedly work as intended, there still remains a need for a portable grill assembly which is not complicated, resists tilting when food is placed upon the grill and which utilizes the pivoting arm concept which enables the grill's vertical height above the fire to be easily adjusted.